Pole rest attachments for ladders



Oct. 8, 1957 E. PALMQUIST POLE REST ATTACHMENTS FOR LADDERS Filed Aug.2. 1954 Fig. 6

INVEN TOR. Roland Eugene Palmquist BY ATTORNEY United States g, PatentPOLE REST ATTACHMENTS FOR LADDERS Roland Eugene Palmquist, Windsor,Colo.

Application August 2, 1954, Serial No. 447,047

1 Claim. (Cl. 228-60) This invention relates to a safety device forladders, and has for its principal object the provision of a ladderattachment which will securely support the ladder against a narrowvertical structure, such as a telephone or power pole, the corner of abuilding, or other narrow support from which the ladder might tilt orslide while in use.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the device that itcan be quickly and easily applied to or removed from the ladder Withoutthe use of tools.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will belight in weight and easily portable, and economical to manufacture anduse.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view looking upwardly andillustrating the improved ladder safety device as it would appear in useon a pole;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved device arranged for use against apole or the like;

Fig. 3 is a front view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the improved safety device for laddersarranged for efigaging a rectangular structure, such as the corner of abuilding or the like; and

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the improved device.

In the drawing the rails of a conventional ladder are illustrated at 10and the uppermost rung of the ladder at 11. A pole, such as a telephoneor power pole, is indicated at 12.

The improved safety device comprises a relatively fiat ladder plate 13to which two inverted, L-shaped bracket members 14 are welded orotherwise secured. The bracket members 14 extend upwardly on the rear ofthe plate 13, thence rearwardly therefrom at an obtuse angle. A poleplate 15 is secured on the rearwardly extending portions of the bracketmembers 14 by means of upwardly projecting, threaded studs 16, or in anyother desired manner.

The ladder plate 13 is preferably rectangular in shape and has a widthto exceed the width of the widest expected ladder 10. The pole plate hasan arcuate indentation 17 formed therein. The edge of the arcuateindentation 17 is preferably serrated to provide a plurality ofrelatively sharp, pointed teeth 18.

Two hooked bars 19 are welded or otherwise secured to the forward faceof the ladder plate 13. These bars have an inverted U-shape and extendupwardly, forwardly and downwardly in substantially parallel relation tothe ladder plate 13. The two free extremities of the 2,808,975 PatentedOct. 8, 1957 bars 19 are braced from each other by means of a cross tube20 secured to both bars 19 and having a width substantially equal to thelength of the ladder plate 13.

A swingable latch tongue 21 extends from a hinge 22 secured to theforward face of the ladder'plate. A tension spring 23 constantly pullsthe free extremity of the latch tongue 21 against the cross tube 20. Thetension spring 23 is booked at its upper extremity through a receivingperforation in the latchtongue 21, and at its lower extremity through asimilar perforation 24 adjacent the lower edge of the ladder plate 13.

To apply the device to the ladder 10, it is forced downwardly over theupper extremity of the latter with the cross tube 20 engaging theforward faces of the rails of the ladder and the ladder plate 13 lyingfiat against the rear faces of the ladder rails. As it moves downwardly,the upper rung 11 of the ladder will force the latch tongue 21 upwardlyuntil the latch moves below the rung, at which time the spring 23 willsnap the latch to the locked position of Fig. 4 so as to preventwithdrawal of the device from the ladder. The ladder is then inclinedagainst the pole 12, the latter entering the indentation 17 and beingengaged by the teeth 18, as shown in Fig. 1, which act to firmly holdand brace the ladder against the pole so that it cannot tilt sidewardlythereon.

For use on rectangular uprights, such as square poles, building corners,etc., a plate, which will be herein designated as a corner plate 25, isemployed. The corner plate is perforated to receive the upstandingthreaded studs 16 so that it may be secured on the top of the pole plate15 by means of suitable nuts 26. The corner plate is provided with atriangular indentation 27, the two sides of which are preferablypositioned at right angles to each other. The latter two sides arecovered by means of a split rubber tube to provide edge cushion members28.

It can be seen that if the ladder is to be used against rectangularcorner structures, the corner plate 25 is simply attached on the poleplate 15 by means of the nuts 26 and the ladder is placed against thecorner structure, the latter entering the indentation 27. It can be seenthat the ladder is securely prevented from tilting sidewardly on thecorner of the structure.

The improved safety device can be quickly and easily removed from theladder by simply depressing the latch tongue 21 against the action ofthe spring 23 so that the latch member can pass the upper rung 11.

It will be noted that the cross tube 20 bears against the upper orforward faces of the ladder rails 10 to prevent the ladder plate 13 fromswinging away from the lower or rear faces thereof.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied,within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired securedby Letters Patent is:

A safety device for attachment to ladders of the type having two siderails joined by rungs, comprising: a relatively flat rectangular ladderplate engageable with the lower edges of the rails adjacent the upperends thereof in an operative elevated position of the ladder, a secondplate formed to engage a pole or other object disposed in angularrelation to said ladder plate and rigidly secured thereto, a pair ofU-shaped brackets having corresponding legs thereof secured to saidladder plate and the bight portion thereof being disposed substantiallyin the plane of said second plate, the bight portions of said bracketsreceiving the uppermost rung of the ladder in the operative position ofthe device with the legs thereof disposed between the side rails, anelongated member of a length greater than the distance between the siderails secured to References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 271,509 Nolton Jan. 30, 1883 Mead May 10,

Danforth May 27,

Wirth Sept. 8,

Bucher et al Dec. 9,

Wilson Aug. 8,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Nov. 10,

